I’ve mentioned project partner (PP) sporadically over a few posts. Since the saga has not ended, I think I should recap the entire event which, of course, led to my current state of mind.

Background:

PP and I were in AP class together last semester. She likes to talk about herself. She’s argumentative during discussions. When a flaw in her argument was pointed out, she refused to acknowledge it and just changed her story. Basically, she never acknowledged her mistakes. There was also something about her that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Essentially, we were never going to be friends. Regardless, she seemed nice so casual pleasantries were continuously exchanged in between and outside class. We added each other on fbook and msn.

Days before Skills class:

Via msn, PP informed me that she is in the same Skills class as me. At that moment, it crossed my mind that I should not partner with her. I remembered her attitude during class discussions. She didn’t bring up being partners so I figured I had nothing to worry about.

Skills class – Day 1:

I had to attend a meeting in the morning with Trini, another classmate. I contemplated asking her if she wanted to be partners since we got along and this is the third class we had together. I hesitated and decided to wait and ask her later in class. Big mistake. Upon entering Skills class, PP immediately said in a very loud voice that we should be partners. Being nice (to my demise) I agreed even though every single pore in my body was screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I rationalized my decision and opted to deal with it.

Skills class – Day 2:

PP was already making me regret my decision. She kept saying in class that she will be a very resistant client during the videotape project. She was not going to be very vocal. She was going to make it hard for me. She began to irritate me. That night, I prepared myself on handling a resistant client.

Skills class – Day 3:

PP reiterated her resistant intentions. I ignored it as usual. Skills prof gave us 3 hours in interview rooms at the university to conduct our mock interview sessions. She was therapist first. She took 8 takes. I had to teach her basic skills on how to start and end the sessions. I guess she wasn’t listening in class. Me, being a helpful one, assisted her throughout. This was fine; however, she started testing my patience. We finally finished a whole 15 minute session and she harassed me for my opinion. I told her my opinion was completely irrelevant since I was not the one assigning the marks nor was I in the position to have an expert opinion. We did 2 more 15 minute sessions. At this point, I was one irate individual. By the time she finished, I only had 30 minutes to do mine. I was now extra annoyed. I could not stand being around her now. We had to finish the session at my apartment. I was trying really hard to hide my annoyance that I did 2 takes and called it a day. The marking scheme did not even cross my mind. I just wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

Pre-Skills – Day 4:

Things due for day 4: transcription, self-critique paper, partner critique paper, and videotape presentation in class. As I was writing my self-critique, I realized that I was unable to display as many of the required skills on my videotape. I minimally reflected feelings and content. It was then that I realized how much PP talked in the videotape. She did not give me a chance to say anything. A sinking feeling in my stomach started to appear. This might affect my mark. I added it to my self-critique.

Skills – Day 4:

Feedback after presentation included my missing skills. The sinking feeling in my stomach became heavier. I started wondering how many marks she would take off. Watching the video for the third time magnified how PP really did not allow me to talk. She was a terrible client. I compared her video with mine and I actually made the effort to stop talking in between the conversation. I started getting annoyed. I was pissed at myself for not spotting the mistakes during the sessions. I was pissed at her for being selfish. Then again, it’s not surprising that she is selfish. She does love to talk about herself and only herself. I started kicking myself.

Good Friday:

Prof posted the videotape marks. I did horrible. I lost 16 marks. I am not happy. The frustration and annoyance I felt when PP and I were taping and during the feedback in class all came back as a tsunami of angry emotions. I am pissed off. No ifs and buts about it. Pissed off at myself. Pissed off at her. Pissed off at the marking scheme. Pissed off that class participation was useless since our mark relied on a videotape. I am effin pissed off!

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6 Responses to “Good Friday = Pissed Off Me”

Shell you must promise you will never ever ever help this classmate again! Helping nice classmates learn skills makes you a great person – but helping someone who is such a bitch will eat your soul!

The good news is, however, that she probably made your mock session artificially bad (and you wouldn’t do “badly” in real life with a real client) AND real clients will listen to you when you see them 🙂 (For the most part!)

psycgirl: I am definitely promising to not help her again. I have already ignored a couple of her msn msgs hehe. I’m hoping that I will not be seeing her for a while though since I am not 1 class ahead of her due to my ethics class. I cannot stand being fake with someone.

I have an appointment with my prof next week for feedback so we’ll see if I will be good in real life 🙂

unbalanced reaction: Far away is my plan too. The fact that there was never any mention of friend or friends in any of the conversations we’ve had should’ve been a sign that she’s toxic.

b: I’m listening to my gut in the future. I don’t even know why I doubted it in the first place. When people rub you off the wrong way there’s usually a pretty good reason for it.